What I’m reading in school this past couple of weeks

- A selection of profiles from Life Stories: Profiles from the New Yorker:
-”The Soloist,” by Joan Acocella (about Mikhail Baryshnikov)
-”Nobody Better, Better than Nobody,” Ian Frazier (Heloise)
-”Covering the Cops,” Calvin Trillin (Edna Buchanan)
-”White Like Me,” Henry Louis Gates Jr. (Anatole Broyard)
-”Man Goes to See a Doctor,” Adam Gopnik (Max Grosskurth)
-”Forty-One False Starts,” Janet Malcolm (David [...]

On encouragement

There’s definitely something to be said for encouragement. It might be that half of what MFA students are seeking is just a pat on the back, the thumbs up signal for something bigger than they’ve ever conceived of writing.
I recently experienced a little push in the right direction from my nonfiction professor. He teaches both [...]

things your professor might say …

… on the first Tuesday in February:
“I hate cat puke.”
“My wife, who is squeamish about a lot of things, claims to be able to clean up cat puke and eat a bagel at the same time.”
By the time I explain how these comments came about in class, it won’t be funny anymore. I swear.